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LX SLR Torana....Canberra Drags...1979..


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#1 _hurst_

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Posted 19 January 2015 - 11:08 AM

Brother, bought this 2/1976 SLR in 1978 with 20000 k's on it..

It was a a one owner car,sold new from Geissler Motors Goulburn...White with grey trim...4.2ltr...4 speed...

The 4.2 was fitted with a Repco Nash 308 cam, street extractors and a Holley 465 4bl carby....

Photos show the SLR, at National Capital Dragway in 1979....Raced on street tyres, hubcaps removed and a helmet had to be worn....

 

All races were on the 1/4 Mile distance at the time....The little 4.2 would run 14.8 secs over the 1/4...

The car would do 78k in first, 110k in second, 160k in third...it would rev to 6000...These time were very good for nearly a stock standard car...

 

The 4.2 engine was later sold and the Geissler Motors L34 (race car engine), was later fitted...The L34 was grey, some might know the car..Attached File  scott slr tralee.png   904.07K   2 downloads

 



#2 _hurst_

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Posted 19 January 2015 - 11:12 AM

Attached File  scott slr tralee helmet.png   908.34K   1 downloadsPhoto shows the grey pin strip on the SLR...



#3 _hurst_

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Posted 19 January 2015 - 11:17 AM

Attached File  scott slr 4.2...2.png   975.74K   1 downloadsSLR in stock trim....1978...



#4 purrlx

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Posted 19 January 2015 - 11:20 AM

Is the car still around or long gone?

#5 Redslur

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Posted 19 January 2015 - 01:08 PM

Classic photos.  Thanks for sharing.  Be very unlikely that the car looks anything like it did in those photos now, if it still even exists!



#6 _hurst_

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Posted 19 January 2015 - 01:27 PM

Another photo on the same day...shows the cars lined up to race...The SLR was against a Monaro..

The 1967 HR Station Wagon had a 327 fitted with twin 4 bl carbies...

Attached File  scott slr hr 2.png   535.59K   2 downloads



#7 _hurst_

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Posted 19 January 2015 - 01:56 PM

Attached File  IMG_NEW.jpg   268.93K   4 downloadsThe SLR had the SLR 5000 make over in the 80's...back then it was the thing to do....

 

The car was last seen looking like this photo...It still had the Geissler L34 race engine in it when sold..

 

The car was sold in 1986 to Lilac City Cars Goulburn....A  car Detailer, working at the dealership, bought the SLR,

but his Father made him take it back, because it was to powerful....The car was then sold to a Canberra dealer..

This was the last we knew of the SLR...

 



#8 xu2308

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Posted 19 January 2015 - 02:52 PM

Go through the Canberra Times in the Motoring Section for the Ad of the SLR, the Canberra Times Archive stuff is on line, so u can look anytime

#9 _HRG735_

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Posted 23 January 2015 - 10:30 AM

Hi, I have just joined the site after being advised some photo's of my old Torana running at the Canberra drags had been posted. They are great photo's and have brought back some good memories. I owned this car for approximately 8 years and as you can see the car underwent the usual development of the day, what else could you expect from an apprentice mechanic!! The drag strip at Pialligo Avenue also looks a little different these days, not quite as rural as it was then. You know it was actually cheaper to enter as an entrant than it was for a spectator. I was there the day "Waltzing Matilda", the jet-powered Ford Louisville truck ran there. From a standing start it ran 15.2 (not as quick as the Torana), and I think about 8 sec from a rolling start. It took a bit to get her going, and the noise and dust was something else. Unlike Castlreagh drags which was sealed in the pit area, Canberra was dirt. I still remember a black 302 Boss Mustang and a black 302 Z28 Camaro (both beautiful cars), getting sandblasted from Waltzing Matilda. Please put up a reply if you ever went to the Canberra drags.

 

Now back to some Torana stuff. The Torana went exceptionally well with only a small amount of modification. When you consider an LJ XU1 @ 15.6, SLR 5000 @ 15.8 and Falcon Gt's @ 15.5(all stock), the Torana went ok. It was a great overtaking car, just knock it back to 3rd and it would run to 160 km / 6000 rpm, ideal for single lane roads. On the dyno it had 102kw at the wheels, punched well above it's weight, this was almost equal to a Falcon GT. When the Torana got the original Geissler L34 engine (from Peter Malloy's workshop in pieces), it was a totally different story. It still only revved to 6000, but it was power and torque all the way from idle to peak where as the 253 didn't really come "on" until 2700 rpm. I never took the Torana to the drags with the L34, but I am sure the times would have been very impressive. Who ever ended up with it certainly got a special car. As it was in the day no one bothered to change engine numbers unless your car ran out of rego and had to be blue slipped. As with the Geissler L34 and A9X race cars, which were both put back as street cars after their race career, neither had the original engine when sold. The parts were recycled through the race cars and he also raced a Commodore as well. The original HZ prefix L34 suffered an early engine blow-up as did many of the L34's, they suffered terribly from oil surge and this one locked number 8 cylinder scoring the bore. The bore was still standard and a re-sleeve of number 8 was all that was required. The crank was something different and the removal of material off the counter weights was something I have never seen before. The heads were wildly ported and polished, ran roller rockers and 351 Cleveland valve springs( I kept thinking they were giving me 6cyl collets until I found out otherwise).

 

As this is my first post, thank you to those who read it and I hope I haven't bored you too much with the info. PS, I have noticed on the site a hell of a lot of "viewers" and not a lot of "repliers", I am more than happy to share info - just post a reply.



#10 arrimar

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Posted 27 January 2015 - 12:08 PM

We all enjoy people's memories of the good old days. Thanks for sharing yours.

#11 Redslur

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Posted 27 January 2015 - 09:04 PM

And us locals have fond memories of the old drag strip in Canberra.



#12 xu2308

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Posted 28 January 2015 - 09:40 AM

My LJ GTR used to Drag at the Canberra International Drag Strip.

Edited by xu2308, 28 January 2015 - 09:42 AM.


#13 _UCLX_

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Posted 28 January 2015 - 07:53 PM

Heard on the grapevine that my Panama A9X sedan also put in a few appearances at the Canberra drags.

Cheers,

Daryl.



#14 _HRG735_

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Posted 28 January 2015 - 08:13 PM

Was the car ever for sale in Canberra around that time?

#15 xu2308

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Posted 28 January 2015 - 08:22 PM

Was the car ever for sale in Canberra around that time?

 


Which Car the White LX SLR or

My LJ GTR or the A9X  ???????????????


Edited by xu2308, 28 January 2015 - 08:25 PM.


#16 _HRG735_

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Posted 29 January 2015 - 08:42 AM

The one you mentioned in your post - the A9X!



#17 _UCLX_

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Posted 29 January 2015 - 08:09 PM

Don't think that the a9x was for sale at that time.

Cheers,

Daryl.



#18 Dr Terry

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Posted 30 January 2015 - 12:25 PM

Unlike Castlreagh drags which was sealed in the pit area, Canberra was dirt.

We raced at Castlereagh from 1980 to 1984 (when it closed) & then a few times at the old Canberra track after that.

I don't remember Castlereagh's pit area ever being sealed, it was basically grass with some dirt areas. Part of the staging lanes were sealed, but there was a lot of dirt there too.

By 1984/85 we had one of the quickest & fastest Super Sedans around. It was an HK Monaro 350/TH400 & did 10.29 @ 130mph. Canberra had a 10 sec limit back then, so we were usually top qualifier. It was a bumpy track, so bumpy in fact, that we lost a race once, when we were in front because our front wheels bounced off the track & over the timing beam, so our rear wheels cut the beam & we lost by half a length. Scary stuff !!

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#19 _HRG735_

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Posted 30 January 2015 - 01:22 PM

Good to hear Dr, sounds like a great car and running great times. When i ran it was just about all street cars, the purpose built drag cars tended to appear a bit later. With regards to the sealed area, meaning it was a lot better than Canberra, because when the truck fired up it was a nightmare behind the staging area. Was Henry Spikak still running his VW's at Castlereagh, they were unbelievable cars? I trust the thread has brought back some good memories for you. Don't suppose you have any pics. Scott.



#20 Dr Terry

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Posted 30 January 2015 - 04:17 PM

I've actually got  VHS tape somewhere,when we doing about 10.6, I'll have a search.

 

They were great days. Our car was far from a purpose built race car. I got the car as a part of a bad debt repayment, it was a street car, damaged & out of rego. It had a 327 Powerglide & two 600 vac Holleys poking thru the bonnet. I think it owed me around $1,500 to $2,000.

 

We put an alloy cage & a 9-inch in it,  some 2nd hand slicks on it, tuned it as good as I could & off we went. Our only suspension mod was a pair of slap bars on the rear leaf springs & we removed the vacuum booster from the brakes. Our 1st pass ever was 12.9 @ 108. The engine was rubbish, so we got serious & built a strong 350 & put a TH400 behind it went straight into the low 12s, then we started breaking the 28-spline 9-inch axles. So a 31-spline centre & HO axles went in.

 

On my honeymoon to the US in 1982 I purchased a hi-stall converter & a genuine NOS kit & got real serious. It was just a rough street car with a good engine, but it was fun. Our best time without NOS was an 11.0, so then we got serious experimenting with the NOS. 

 

In the end we had a car that would run 10.2/10.3 all day reliably & can you believe it had stock Chev conrods.

 

Next step was to up the ante yet again. We changed the rear axle ratio & upped the NOS. Then we started to twist & break the 31-spline axles. We borrowed a set of 35-spline MW axles & a spool & then the engine let go.

 

I think what we proved in the end, was that you can't get a 9-sec pass in a 1,500 kg car with stock Chev conrods.

 

Great memories.

 

Dr Terry






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